The spring, 2026 Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, our 68th long-term program, is complete. Yesterday we gathered together for a send-off dinner, shook hands and said I’ll see you when I see you.
I never grow tired of watching people of different ages, from different walks of life, from different places coming together and forming into a team. This is different than a friendship because we’re actively working towards specific goals, not just hanging out. It’s where each individual can count on the others to have their back, to give them a helping hand when they need it, or a kick in the ass when that’s more appropriate. It isn’t magic, and I’ve seen it happen so many times that my ongoing fascination with it is likely the outlier, not the thing itself. I think what makes it stand out to me is that it is so rare in the modern world, and it happens with such consistency here.
This isn’t to say we don’t have our share of interpersonal conflict. We do. But when when it comes down to it, when we are shoulder to shoulder working toward a common goal, sometimes struggling, sometimes coasting, but always moving forward, this is when individuals become a team. In my opinion, this is when the magic happens and is the essence of the human experience, whether it’s 2026 or 20,000 years ago.
This is when it doesn’t matter what kind of knife you have, or axe, or any other piece of gear. This is when it doesn’t matter if this is your first time out on the land or if you have a lifetime of experience behind you. This is when what matters is that the other members of the group can depend on you, and you on them. We help others to achieve the goal, to get to the finish line, and they in turn help us get there. This is what is rare in the modern world.
This is also something the corporate team building industry has missed; that it takes authentic challenge and adversity to achieve this, not manufactured, short term games. If you want to build a team, get a group of people together and do something hard with real consequences. The outcome will be something a cushy corporate retreat could never achieve.
I’ve got a weekend of down time before starting the advanced canoe poling and paddling course. It’s going to rain most of the weekend, which should bring up our local waters, but we’re headed to Chase Rapids on the Allagash for a few days where there’s plenty of water, so if the storm goes in a different direction we’ll still have enough. Then another weekend and we start the summer Wilderness Bushcraft Semester, where another team will be built. Summer is busy in Masardis.
